WHYCOCOMAGH, N.S. - Four American martens have been released into the Cape Breton wilderness after being blessed by a Mi'kmaq elder.
The martens were released in Whycocomagh Provincial Park on Wednesday as part of a five-year program to increase the endangered population of an animal that once flourished in Nova Scotia.
Peter Austin-Smith, a biologist with the Department of Natural Resources, says the martens were captured in northern New Brunswick.
Fifty-one were released in Cape Breton last year, 25 the year before and about 30 to 50 will be added this year.
The next two years will be spent monitoring the success of the project.